


In The Wake Of Dragons

by sevenholypathstohell



Category: REILLY Matthew - Works, Scarecrow Series - Matthew Reilly, The Great Zoo of China - Matthew Reilly
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-02
Updated: 2017-05-05
Packaged: 2018-09-21 14:47:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9553358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sevenholypathstohell/pseuds/sevenholypathstohell
Summary: A year has passed since Cassandra Cameron's fateful trip to the Great Dragon Zoo, but while she has gotten on with her life, others have not. Now, she has been abducted by one of the most feared bounty hunters in the world and must face him and the furious vengeance of the Chinese military machine, who will stop at nothing to tie up this loose end.





	1. Chasing The Dragon

_MKT Airfield, Darwin, Australia_

_2030hrs_

_February 7th, 2015_

 The full moon shone bright over the private airfield as CJ Cameron pulled her car up next to a small hangar. She hopped out of the car and with a spring in her step, headed into the hangar. Today marked the first break she’d been able to take from work in a while, and she was over the moon about getting to see some very special friends. To do that, she’d bought a secondhand Pilatus PC-12 from the Royal Flying Doctor Service, a propellor plane with enough range to get her to the Philippines. More accurately, she was headed for an archipelago located in the province of Mindanao, which hosted an unused US naval base with an airstrip. Why she went on these trips was anyone’s guess, for only CJ and a select few knew.

 She trotted into the hangar, excited to take into the air when something caught her eye. Parked near her humble Pilatus was another plane, a fighter jet, that looked entirely out of this world. It was decked out in an all-black paintjob with no markings whatsoever, save for a white nose. An array of missiles hung from its wings, but it was those wings that held her rapt attention. In what apparently went against every law of aerodynamics, the fighter’s wings were swept _forwards_ , not backwards like in a normal plane. It looked for all the world like a hawk (or a dragon) swooping on its victim. She made a mental note to look up what kind of plane it was on the internet when she felt something tiny pierce her neck. Pulling it out, she frowned as she recognized it immediately as a tranquilizer dart. She turned to see two figures walking towards her. Two men. Both were taller than her, but one of them looked utterly gigantic. The other was a more average size, but there was something ominous about his stride. Her next thoughts were a blur as the fast-acting anesthetic knocked her out and she slumped into the big man’s arms.

“Nice catch.” Knight said. “I didn’t know you were this good with the ladies.”

“Haha thanks boss. I suppose.” Rufus replied in his usual innocent tone. “Holy macaroni, look at this!”

“What is it?”

“Look at her face.”

Knight turned around and studied the features of their latest capture, evaluating them against the photos they’d been provided. Most of the info was spot on: 5’6”, about 110 pounds, blonde shoulder-length hair, light brown eyes. That was until he noticed the lady’s left cheek. Several grotesque scars streaked from her left eye to her mouth, like a messed up chelsea grin. _That_ wasn’t in the memo.

“She sure reminds us of someone, doesn’t she?” Rufus said.

Knight thought for a while, and smirked. “She does. If she’s anything like the Scarecrow, we’ll have to watch her and our Chinese contact closely.”

 

V

 

_Two hours later, over the South China Sea_

 

CJ woke with a start. She was in some sort of plane, and airborne. Looking around her, she saw the oddest collection of paraphernalia she’d ever seen in years. Directly opposite her was a transparent gun-safe, armed to the teeth. Next to it was a fridge, and someone’s half-finished bottle of Mountain Dew. Beyond that was a pile of well-worn and read books and adult magazines.

_Am I in a plane or in someone’s house?_ She caught herself thinking. She attempted to get up, but almost fell over.

“Ah!”

She made to move her arms but they had been zip-tied, the tie itself being handcuffed to a pole.

“Hello, Ms. Cameron.” Knight greeted.

CJ snapped her attention left.

“What do you want with me!” CJ barked. “Release me now, or I will bring the United States government down on your ass!”

Knight smirked derisively. A full beard grew from this one’s chin like weeds, and his eyes were obscured by a pair of Oakleys with yellow-tinted lenses.

“Ms Cameron,” he spoke. “You seem a bit pale. Would you like something to eat? Or a drink, maybe? We have a bit of a trip ahead of us.”

“Who are you?! Where am I and where are you taking me?!”

“Uhhh I’m guessing somewhere over the South China Sea, we’re headed for Guangzhou.”

CJ froze, alarm bells ringing in her head.

“No! We’re not going to China! You cannot hand me to the Chinese!” she screamed.

Knight raised his eyebrows, and turned to Rufus, who looked back and simply shrugged.

“Why’s that? Piss off someone important?”

“You don’t know the half of it.” CJ groaned.

“Try me.”

“Even if I told you, you wouldn’t believe me.”

“Shoot.”

“No. You assholes aren’t worth my time. You’re not Chinese, why bother telling you?”

“Hm. Fine. For the record, I probably don’t give two shits either, as long I see the money.”

“How much?”

“Not telling you, you ain’t Chinese.”

 

Several minutes passed in awkward silence. Knight helped himself to the half-open Mountain Dew bottle, holding it at a peculiar angle in case sudden turbulence caused him to spill the drink.

“Ughh it’s flat. Yo Rufus, got anymore unopened drinks?”

“Check for yourself.” Rufus called back. “If we need to restock, we can head for Hong Kong later, provided our client pays up.”

“Right.” Knight said as he gulped down a cupful. “Ahhh. Hey Cameron, sure you don’t want some?”

CJ snapped out of her reverie, glaring daggers at her captor.

_Fuck off and let me die_ , she wanted to say, but her work was too important for her to leave behind. Far too important. She recalled the survival camps she went on as a girl, together with her brother and parents.

“Stay calm,” her father would say “And take whatever they give you, as long as you’re alive, you’re still in the game.”

She nodded weakly, opening her mouth as Knight gently poured the drink in.

“Thanks, I guess.”

“Let me know if you’re ready to talk.” he said as he fished out a Nintendo 3DS to continue his game of Pokemon.

“Wait, aren’t you mercenaries? You’ll do _anything_ for the money, right?”

“You’re perceptive. Yes, when you put it that way.”

“Look, I don’t have many cards on the table right now, but I’m serious about being involved with the US government, I have a massive favor to call in.”

“Oh?”

“Get me out of this thing and we’ll talk. I can match whatever those Chinese assholes are paying you, to the dollar.”

Knight assessed the sorry looking figure of CJ Cameron. She was still physically weakened from being knocked out, but he recognized the grit and fire and intellect in her. _Maybe you’re more like the Scarecrow than I thought_.

“Fair enough, but hit me or my friend and you’re dead-meat. Also, we’ll have to bind you again when we touchdown.”

“Deal.”

 

Knight unsheathed a grim-looking combat knife from his vest and severed the zip tie. CJ fell forward but gracefully landed on her palms and recovered with a push up.

“That wasn’t so hard, see? Just cooperate and you’ll be fine. I think.”

“Whatever. Who even are you people?”

“They call me the Black Knight. Our friendly neighborhood pilot today is Rufus, I’m sure you’ve already been introduced to him.”

Rufus turned back and waved at the two, CJ returning his greeting with a scowl.

“I don’t suppose I’m out of the woods yet?”

“Nope. We’re too professional to let you just slip out of our hands.”

“I’m sure you are. I’m just happy you don’t have a reason to put a bullet in my head.”

“Yet.”

“Bite me.”

“If I was paid a million to bite you, I would.”

“Go fuck yourself.”

“I don’t have a wife so I do that on the regular.”

“Oh god _damn_ you, are you always like this with everyone you kidnap?”

“...no. Because they’re usually dead.”

CJ pounded her head on the adjacent compartment. She’d rather have debated with a talking, fire-breathing dragon than a smart aleck bounty hunter.

“Look if you’re not willing to talk-”

“Fine. Ok.” CJ turned around, a thin stream of blood dripping from her forehead. She unclenched her fist and swiped a packet of cotton wool from Knight, pressing against the scratch. “We’ll talk.”

 

V

 “Long story short, I got involved with one of the chief American ambassadors to China, and I don’t mean in the biblical sense.”

“Go on.” Knight said, nonplussed.

“We were on a tour group when we were...attacked. Somehow, I managed to bust his ass outta there without getting killed.”

“Did you know who attacked you?”

“Dunno.”

“Not even a smidge of an idea?”

“Eh.” CJ shrugged.

“C’mon, Cameron. I’ve interrogated too many poor dickheads to not know when someone’s hiding something from me, you can do better than that.”

“Like I said, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you the truth, only the Chinese know what happened.”

“I’ve seen a great many things in my life, Cameron. Things I wasn’t supposed to see. I’ve seen corruption and illegal espionage in the US military, I’ve fought people who wanted to start total war between America and the Muslim nations. Hell, I’ve even seen people who were fed alive to tiger sharks.”

_You’ve got nothing to lose, CJ. Hit them with it_.

“Oh really? Have you seen Jurassic Park?”

“‘Course I have, we’re not savages.”

“What if I told you the Chinese spent four decades building just that- their own Jurassic Park, to house a species of flying dinosaur which for all intents and purposes, we’d call a ‘dragon’.”

“A what?”

“Told you so.”

Now this was new to Knight. Not so much that she’d mentioned ‘dragon’, but the absolute conviction with which she said it. As if she’d seen one in the flesh.

“ _Yes_ , my dear kidnapper. That was the look on mine and everyone’s faces when we saw them for the first time. Next thing you’re gonna say, you’ll ask if they had unicorns and mermaids too.”

“Did they?”

“No.”

“Color me disappointed.” Knight said, deadpan.

 

“Anyway, I was supposed to visit the zoo in order to find out what the Chinese were up to and do a write up on it, so was the American Embassador. The animals turned on their captors and the Chinese decided to ice everyone. Every. Single. Witness.”

“Why?”

“You can’t possibly imagine how ruthless Beijing is at keeping its secrets. Sure, they can rival America in military might, but culturally, they’re lagging. This...zoo, it was supposed to be their answer to Disneyland, but it failed spectacularly. They couldn’t have anyone getting out with it.”

“Believe me, I know. Me and Rufus here faced something like that a long time ago, but it was with Uncle Sam. They framed us for something that wasn’t our fault and we’ve been on the run ever since.”

“And here you are kidnapping and killing people for money, if not fun. Why? What makes you so different from _them_?”

For the first time that evening, she’d been able to give him pause.

“There are times in your life when you make choices that send you down a road of no return. That choice was made for me.”

Knight took a moment to clench and unclench his fist.

“Looking back, I don’t know if I could’ve done anything to stop it, but I’d sure as hell try.”

CJ was tempted to barb him some more, but she felt saying nothing would have left a better message.

 

Suddenly, an ominous drone from the cockpit filled the plane.

“Boss! We have 5 tangoes on bearing 010, they’re locked onto us!”

“Who? And what kind of planes?”

“Flankers!”

“Flankers? What are the Russians doing all the way out here?”

“Hang on, I’m getting something.”

“Problem, Knight?” CJ raised an eyebrow.

“Cameron, I suggest you sit down, this might get bumpy.”

“Boss! They’re not Russians! It’s the Chinese!”

“Fill me in.”

“Uhhh, they’re _requesting_ that they escort us to their carrier. We’re not going to Guangzhou anymore.”

CJ and Knight exchanged knowing glances.

“What happens if we fight our way out?”

“It’s not just the fighters, boss. We’re getting beamed by their long-range SAMs too. If we do anything, we’re toast.”

“...fine. Comply with the order. Cameron, remember the deal.”

“Aye aye, captain.” CJ grunted as she was restrained once more.

 

A minute later, the five Chinese jets encircled Knight’s plane, the Black Raven. They were J-15s, locally-produced copies of the Russian Su-27 ‘Flanker’. Called the ‘Flying Shark’ in the media, they were agile, armed to the teeth, and designed specially for use from China’s new aircraft carrier- the _Huanghe_. Grim expressions wore their faces as they saw the Sharks’ markings up close.

“I don’t like this, boss.” Rufus stated.

“You two got me into this mess, now it’s up to you to unfuck it.” CJ retorted.

Knight paced about the Raven, pursing his lips.

“Is there any way we’re getting out of this?” he asked Rufus.

“No can do. See it’s not just the carrier, she’s flanked by two Type-52D destroyers. We’re getting beamed right now so they probably have anti-stealth capabilities. There’s no way we can outrun them without getting shot.”

“Damn. We’ll have to find some way of commandeering the carrier then. Somehow.”

“Do I get a say in this?” CJ asked.

“Sorry, Cameron, but you’re disposable.” Knight replied, deadpan.

“I figured.”

“But we’ll try and save your ass. If we have the time.”

“I’d hope so. I suuure hope so.”

 

V

 

The Black Raven swooped to a full stop above the carrier _Huanghe_. Its normally stony-faced crew admired the bizarre jet as its engines worked in tandem with several micro-thrusters on its mid section to allow it to perch on the deck. Once Rufus depowered the engines, a platoon of sailors swarmed the Raven in a perfect semicircle, rifles up and trained on the cockpit as the jet’s occupants trundled out.

“Sailors, stand down!” a voice boomed in Mandarin. At once and in perfect synchronization, the sailors holstered their rifles and reverted to a stance at attention.

An older man in white paced towards the motley crew, stopping only to address the platoon commander, who immediately presented his crispest salute.

“Good evening, sir! What are your instructions?”

“You may dismiss the platoon, Lieutenant, but leave me with two of your number as escort.”

With that, the lieutenant singled out two seamen before marching the rest of the platoon off to their quarters.

The man in white turned his attention back to Knight and spoke in fluent English, “Good evening, Mr Knight, and associates. My name is Admiral Shu Shang and this is my carrier, the _Huanghe._ Welcome aboard.”

The handshake shared between them was firm, but cold in its delivery.

“Evening, sir.” Knight replied. “Were you the one who placed the contract?”

“No, I am not your client. Your client is awaiting belowdecks. Before you proceed, please kindly leave all your weapons with your associate, unless he is following?”

To that, Rufus shook his head. “This baby and I are inseparable.”

“Very well. Come, we do not have all night.”

With a shrug, Knight walked back to the jet, handing over his sidearm to his old friend, while leaning into his ear and whispering “You know the drill. Wait for my signal.”

“Is this gonna turn out like how it did with Scarecrow?”

“Maybe. Maybe not. We’ll see.”

 

Knight and the admiral escorted the bound CJ down the cramped hallways of the carrier, accompanied by one of the sailors from the earlier platoon. Unseen by the admiral or the grunt, Knight slipped his hand down the back-pocket of CJ’s jeans, palm-side inwards. CJ whipped around and shot Knight a withering glare, to which he surreptitiously winked and jerked his chin for her to keep walking. The group reached a storage room, where yet another man sat at a table. He looked up from his report and greeted the party with a thin smile as CJ was forced into the chair opposite him.

“Ah, the famous Black Knight! At last we meet!”

“You the client?”

“Yes. I am Lin Bei, deputy minister for internal affairs. I see you have brought in the target alive, as I requested in the memo. Well done.”

CJ maintained a deathly silence as Knight bound her arms and legs to the chair, staring at the floor.

“Truthfully, I was not expecting anyone to complete the job so quickly, considering how many other hunters were in on this.”

“What can I say, we’re professionals.”

“Your reward of 4 million US dollars will be transferred to your account, as soon as we have verified your account details. The admiral will accompany you there. Admiral, if you please?”

“It will be done, sir.”

Something clicked in CJ’s head. Unbeknownst to any of them, she knew Mandarin, and was even more fluent in it than in her previous escapade. She had read somewhere that it was bad luck to give or receive things in fours; the Mandarin word for ‘four’ sounded identical to ‘death’. Back in the Zoo, she recalled being taken to what was coded as an ‘emergency departure’ area for tourists, only for her to barely escape execution by the Chinese. Now, Knight was facing the same fate.

_Of course_ . She thought. _They’re going to kill anyone and everyone related to me or their zoo in any way. I don’t like Knight, but he’s my only ticket off this boat_.

Craning over, she shouted “Hey Knight! Careful who you get in bed with! And don’t let the door hit you on the way out!”

Lin reached over and backhanded CJ.

“Quiet!” he ordered.

It seemed to be in vain anyway, Knight simply left without so much as acknowledging her.

 

V

 

“So.” Lin began with a sneer. “How did you know we’re going to deal with your fellow American friend?”

“He isn’t my friend” CJ growled, spitting a gob of blood on Lin’s report. “He’s your ally of convenience, and now you’re putting him down now that he’s not useful to you anymore.”

“Right right.” Lin continued, unfazed. “We do have our allies, but his death is nothing personal. As you have probably figured out, we will ensure any outsider who could possibly know about the project is silenced. Yours on the other hand...”

Lin stood up and paced about the room. “Did they tell you how much revenue the park was supposed to generate in its first year?”

“Hm, if I had to hazard a guess…50 billion USD.”

“Good try, but a bit conservative. No, we were looking at anywhere between 60 to 80 billion USD.”

“So?”

“So that’s why my wife pestered me to pump our life’s savings into the park. See, we don’t have a good business acumen, but her father...how do you Americans call it...had me by the balls?”

“Yes…”

“Had me by the balls! So I did that, and you jolly know what happened to my investment.”

“What do I care you made a bad decision?”

“No, this is more than money, Miss Cameron. Because of the scale of my investment, I had a specific army unit sent to clean up the park in case of any such accidents. My son was in that unit.”

CJ rolled her eyes for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. _Men…_

“I know what you’re thinking, Miss Cameron. You’re thinking what this has to do with you. Let me show you.”

 

The minister opened up a briefcase laptop, showing security camera footage dated March 18th, 2014. Several figures walked onto the bridge, some of them conspicuously armed with rifles. One of whipped around and seemed to project a billowing stream of fire, causing an explosion that landed everyone in the river below.

“Does that jog your memory, Miss Cameron?”

“Sure does, now you mention it. Which one’s your son?”

“The tall one, I can recognize his posture anywhere.”

“He got in my way, he had to go.”

Another punch, harder this time. CJ fell backwards with her chair, prompting Lin to saunter over and right the chair up, before punching her a third time. The minister took a moment to unclench his fist and resume his seat, while CJ could barely squint at him from her rapidly swelling eye.

“Nobody talks about my son like that and gets away with it.”

CJ sneered and spat another gob of blood.

“Beat me, torture me, kill me, it won’t bring back your son.”

“No, that’s not the point of why I had you brought here. I know I can’t recover my son or my money, the only thing left for me to do is serve my duty.”

Lin’s tone went low and deadly, “But I have other ways of breaking you.”

With that, he pulled out a satellite phone and held the phone to her ear.

“Hey, Chipmunk.” a familiar voice said.

“Hamish!”

 

Halfway around the world in a rural California suburb, Hamish Cameron was in equally dire straits. Under a half-finished overpass, he was kneeled on the ground with masked Chinese secret service agents pointing their suppressed handguns to his head.

“Hey. Glad to hear your voice, sis.”

“Bear, what’s going on?”

“Listen, they’ve got me cornered too, but they promised to let me go if you told ‘em where the remaining yellow dragons are.”

“That’s right,” Lin interjected “We intend to either capture or neutralize them, then use their DNA to start afresh.”

“Haven’t you fuckers had enough of playing god?” CJ spat. “Think about how many people died in your zoo, and that’s not even counting what happened during my tour.”

“Enough. Tell us where they are or your brother will die.”

CJ stared into space as she ran through her options. She wanted so badly to believe that Hamish would really be let go, but deep down, she knew the Chinese would be too ruthless to allow it. The question now was whether she’d allow them to find the dragons, to find Lucky. Her answer to that was a resounding…

“No.”

Lin blinked several times in surprise.

CJ continued “I hardly believe you people would be so merciful as to let him go.”

“I’m proud of you, Chipmunk. Goodbye…”

“Hamish…”

The gunshots rang out over the speakers, only to be mercifully cut off by Lin hanging up.

“NOOO!!!!” CJ wailed.

 

Lin watched her, unfazed with her outpouring of grief.

“I guess we have no more use for you, we can find the dragons ourselves then.”

Shaking his head, the minister reached into his back pocket for his pistol and cocked the slide. Lin never saw CJ finally undo the bonds Knight had left her in (he’d deliberately made them easy to get out from), nor did he see the switchblade he’d slipped in her back-pocket. She’d stabbed the blade through Lin’s wrist so hard that it tore right through Lin’s forearm and came out on the other side. In the milliseconds that followed, Lin’s arm released its grip on his pistol and it clattered to the table, the pain roaring up his arm. As soon as CJ yanked the knife free, bright red blood spurted from the wound. Lin instinctively clutched his arm in agony and in seemingly vain attempt to stop the bleeding. CJ knew she’d pierced his artery and he’d be dead within minutes- she couldn’t wait that long. She snatched Lin’s pistol and emptied the entire magazine into his chest, tears streaming down her face.

“You and your family can rot in hell.” she growled.

Taking a moment to catch her breath, she hurriedly undid the rest of her bonds and prepared to flee the carrier, by any means necessary.

 

Abovedecks, Knight stood on the edge of the carrier, escorted to this very spot at gunpoint by the same grunt from earlier. Of course, he never got his due payment, and Admiral Shu had long since retreated to his command center. Now, he stared at the waves, hands placed on his head. Without a second thought, the grunt raised his rifle and curled his finger around the trigger. The next few seconds saw a number of things happen. Inexplicably, Knight held two fingers above his forehead in a ‘V’ shape without turning around, and then, he swan-dived. Right off the carrier. Caught totally off guard, the grunt ran over to see where he went, but suddenly turned to hear an ominous whirring behind him. The last thing he saw was the Black Raven’s belly-mounted 30mm cannon spin to life, while inside the cockpit, Rufus averted his eyes. This was going to be ugly.

 

As Knight fell, he turned on his back, whipping out a pistol-like object and firing it at the chain holding the carrier’s anchor. It was a magnetic grappling hook- an MH-12C ‘Maghook’. After Knight’s adventures with the Scarecrow, he procured a compact version of what said Marine used for exactly this reason. The Maghook’s magnetized head stuck fast to the massive chain and Knight swang from it, looking for all the world like George of the Jungle, and then spooled himself in by retracting the head. Up above, he heard the Raven’s cannon fire off, and in the darkness, could barely make out the grunt’s bisected body tumble into the sea.

“Hey buddy,” he called into his communicator. “Nice work, you got the message. Now get ready to raise hell, I’m gonna pick up our Very Important Prisoner.”

“Sure thing, boss. Those destroyers are locking onto me right now, I can dance with them a while but you’ll have to get em off my back.”

“Roger. Knight out.”

With that, Knight pulled himself up and made his way back into the carrier.

 

Inside the command center, Admiral Shu perked his head up to the sound of the Raven’s cannon fire. Quickly wearing his boots, he snatched his walkie-talkie and contacted his Chief petty officers.

“What’s going on?!”

“Sir! The deputy minister is dead and the prisoner is escaping! They have opened fire on us, and we are sending every available man up against them!”

“What! Get all the men to their battle-stations, and radio the destroyers to come online! Bring me their fucking heads!”


	2. Odd Bedfellows

_ On the other side of the world… _

 

Hamish Cameron lay prone on the ground, hands above his head and trembling like he had been dumped on ice.  _ I’m dead, I’m dead, I’m dead, _ he mumbled incongruously.  _ Wait… I’m not actually dead _ ?

 

At the moment he’d been disconnected from his sister, he’d heard the gunshots. Only thing was they had not come from the Chinese secret service agents. The three agents had dropped to the floor, each from a clean headshot.  _ Snipers _ . Several moments later, a pair of armored SUVs swerved to a stop around him, and heavily armed  _ American _ Secret Service agents swarmed out, guns up and ready. Their leader tapped the still panicking Hamish on the shoulder, prompting him to look up.

“Holy shit, it’s you, secret agent dude!” he exclaimed.

Standing before him was CIA special agent Greg Johnson. The man looked exactly the same as he did a year ago, with the same neat hairstyle in all its grey-black glory. However, he now looked much, much more in his element. Hamish recalled how at the dragon zoo, Johnson resembled a surly bouncer with his too-tight suit and work shoes. Indeed, he’d been a bodyguard for the US Ambassador to China, Kirk Syme. Today, he toted a ballistic vest, a lightweight kevlar helmet, combat boots, and a loaded MP-7.

“It’s you…?” Johnson replied, lowering his gun in surprise. “Shit, that means CJ is in danger.”

“You got that right, Agent Coulson.”

“Get in the car first and fill me in as we drive.”

 

“So how’d you guys find me so quick?” Hamish piped up.

“That’s classified info…” Johnson paused, waving a Radio Frequency detector across Hamish’s massive frame.

“Umm I thought you said to fill you in right now?”

Johnson ignored him and continued scanning around him, at one point even propping himself on Hamish’s thigh to scan his back.

“Dude… I know you guys have a duty to stop and frisk us at the airports and all that, but isn’t this a bit ridiculous?”

Johnson leaned back in his seat, offering a slight satisfied smile. “Standard operating protocol is always ridiculous, my friend. Anyway, you’re clean, so I can come clean with you. Need some water?”

Johnson had noticed the usually collected Hamish was sweating beads and offered him his canteen. Hamish graciously accepted the offer and gulped down half the bottle.

  
  


“About a month ago,” Johnson began as he sipped from the canteen himself “We were tracking an arms shipment from China to Mexico. The order was for four hundred knock-off AKs and five thousand rounds of ammunition.”

“The drug cartels?”

“Yeah. Make no mistake, the bigger ones import sniper rifles from Germany, leftover Stingers from Afghanistan, and occasionally choppers retrofitted with gatling guns. Anyway, some of the Chinese fellas we were scoping out ended up taking the rifles with them across the border into California, but we lost complete track of them. Until now.”

“I see…” Hamish rubbed his chin.

“How about you? How’d you get into this mess?”

“They must’ve done some of your secret agent-type shit on their own, following me in cars, observing me from cut-out holes in newspapers, hacking my tablet’s search history and finding the porn…”

Johnson chuckled “For the record, we don’t track your porn searches. We could if we wanted to, but why waste time and money on that when y’know, we could be stopping the  _ real _ bad guys?”

“Heh,” Hamish giggled nervously “I or may not be kidding on the porn, but somehow, they still found me, put me in a bag and whisked me away from my hotel breakfast. That’s all I know... but CJ’s in trouble too.”

“What do you know?”

“She’s on a ship somewhere. Her captors contacted me via satellite phone...shit! She doesn’t know I’m alive still! We need to retrieve that phone!”

“Don’t worry,” Johnson assured “I’ll have my guys pick it up, they’ll triangulate the signal and we’ll use that to bail CJ out.”

“Alright. Hey, you never found those rifles, did you?”

“No…?” Johnson frowned, vaguely recalling that Hamish’s captors had handguns, not rifles. “Never mind the guns for now, let’s focus on rescuing-”

Without warning, a truck clipped the rear of the SUV, sending it spinning out of control and completely smashing its rear wheel. Johnson and Hamish clung for dear life as their world went completely sideways. Five seconds later, both vehicles came to a stop. Panting, Johnson paged his throat mic. “All units come in, this is Mamba Team. One of our cars is down and we need immediate extract. I repeat, we need immediate extract. We have the package and I’d like to get him out of dodge, over.”

 

No sooner had Johnson called for help when the truck’s cargo hold opened up, releasing a team of Chinese special forces. A total of six troops emerged, three of them advanced on Johnson and Hamish while the other three fired on the second armored SUV, separating the bodyguards from their charge.

“Fuck!” Johnson yelled, as he and their driver returned fire “All units, we need urgent support NOW, damnit!”

“ _ Roger that, Mamba. We’re scrambling air assets to you now, ETA seven minutes. _ ”

“I don’t have seven minutes! Fuck!” Johnson swore as bullets whizzed past his head.

“Goddamn!” Hamish said as he took cover “At least we know where your guns ended up.”

“Shut up!” Johnson snapped “On the count of three, you’re going to get out the door and run for that alleyway, hide in the first doorway you find! I’ll cover you!”

“Got it!”

“Alright! On the count of three...THREE!”

Johnson practically kicked Hamish giant frame out of the car, while using the kick to propel himself up the window for a better shot at the advancing Chinese operators. Laying down a screen of suppressing fire, he forced them to take refuge behind civilian cars, long-since abandoned by their screaming owners.

“Go now! Go go go!” he screamed at Hamish. The big man scrambled to his feet and dashed into the alleyway, sticking to cover where he could. Now it was Johnson and the driver’s turn to evacuate.

“Morty!” Johnson called “Same deal as before, lay down covering fire while we retreat!”

“Hooah, boss!” he acknowledged. James ‘Morty’ Morten had recently completed his Secret Service switch over from the Army, this was his second field assignment and it had gone to hell in a handbasket. As one, Morty and Johnson opened fire on the Chinese, when they saw a sinister cylindrical object roll towards them. In the nanoseconds it took for their combat-oriented minds to operate, they instantly recognized what it was. With no time to even shout, Johnson dove into the alleyway, but Morty’s first instinct was to dive right on top of the cylinder.

“Morty NO!!” Johnson screamed. The grenade detonated, instantly mushing Morty’s insides. Thanks to his sacrifice, the shrapnel had been contained within his body or caught by his own ballistic vest.

 

Fueled by Morty’s actions, Johnson threw a grenade of his own, a flashbang, timing it just as the Chinese caught up to the alleyway. Having bought some time by stunning the enemy troops, he ran with Hamish while firing back at the Chinese, killing two of their number.

“What’s the status of that air support, over!”

“ _ Mamba, this is Seagull! We’re heading to you now, please confirm your position! _ ”

“Seagull! We’re running eastwards past Flint Street and in the general direction of the motorway. Be advised, these assholes are heavily armed! We have at least one man down and multiple civilians in the area. Use extreme caution!”

With that, the two men vanished into the back-alleys of the California sprawl.

V

_ On the South China Sea _

Knight made brisk pace, heading for the room where CJ had been held. With the .45 Compact he had stuffed down his boots beforehand, he nailed a pair of guards that had been checking up on CJ and the deputy minister’s room. Peering inside, he found that she had indeed escaped, the deputy minister lying in a pool of his own blood. He mused internally whether slipping her that switchblade was a good idea. Now with no means of contacting her, he’d most likely have to scour the entire ship-

“Hold it right there, buckaroo.” CJ emerged from behind a bulkhead, aiming her pistol squarely at Knight’s chest. She looked as if she’d just cried buckets, but in the same eyes was a deadly, vengeful intensity.

“Whoa whoa hold it there, sister. You’re gonna need me to get off this ship, remember?” Knight backed up, holding up his hands in supplication.

“I’m not your fucking sister.” she growled “And you’d better have a plan for getting off this boat or I’ll shoot you myself and swim if I have to.”

“Alright alright, ok. We’re heading up to the flight deck now, I’ll call Rufus in so we don’t have to wait.”

CJ eyed the bounty hunter warily, examining his body language. It did not look like he was about to bolt and leave her stranded in the middle of the ocean.

_ For all that posturing, _ she thought to herself,  _ I really can’t make it out of here without you, so you’d better have a solid plan, Knight _ .

“Sounds good. Lead the way.” she said aloud.

“And you cover my ass.” Knight replied as he scooped up a Chinese rifle and several magazines “I don’t know what happened to you while I was gone, but I hope you’ve brought your A-game because they’re gonna ice the both of us.”

“I told you so.”

 

Up in the air, the Black Raven circled the fleet like a hawk, evading the furious barrage of anti-aircraft fire. With its stealth features and Rufus’ low altitude flying, the Chinese had difficulty acquiring missile lock on him and resorted to AA cannons and small arms. Meanwhile, Rufus himself was unable to neutralize the enemy destroyers as his missiles were getting shot down by their CIWS. Every modern combat vessel is equipped with CIWS- a Close In Weapons System of gatling guns and short range missiles linked up to form a missile shield, and the Chinese ships were no different. With the battle reaching a stalemate, Admiral Shu ordered the launch of a Flying Shark squadron to get up close and personal with the black jet.

“Boss! What’s your status?” Rufus called over the intercom.

“ _ I’m with Cameron now, we’re heading towards the flight deck. Can you pick us up? _ ”

Rufus rolled on his side, avoiding another deadly burst of cannon fire. “No can do, boss.”

“ _ Can’t get through their defenses? _ ”

“That’s right. You need to disable their anti-air so I can come in for the pick-up, else we’ll just be sitting ducks. Umm also, if you could deal with the destroyers, that’d make my day.”

“ _See what I can do, Rufus._ _See you soon._ ”

_ Ugh! _ Rufus grunted. Talking to Knight had made him miss his chance to take down the first couple of Sharks as they took off from the carrier, but he was able to strafe one with cannon fire, narrowly missing the carrier’s own CIWS barrage. The totaled Shark glided into the ocean, its pilot ejecting just before hitting the water. The three Sharks that had made it off the carrier had turned around and were now coming at him head on, acquiring missile lock on him.

“Come on now, show me your dance moves!” he hollered, flying right into their faces.

 

Belowdecks, it was a world of amber and red klaxons as sailors rushed to arms. Several of them got in Knight’s and CJ’s way, and it would be the last mistake they made. Knight, CJ noted, was completely in his element. His precision and fluidity far outclassed the disarrayed Chinese sailors’ training. For a moment, she caught herself speculating what he might have done prior to turning mercenary, and what might have happened to push him over that edge. She was brought back to the present when her magazine went dry.

_ Shit, shit _ . She cursed.

“Need a hand?”

CJ turned around just in time, catching a pair of pistol magazines Knight had thrown to her.

“Rufus can’t come in to pick us, the ship’s defenses are too tight.”

“So?” CJ said in between reloads.

“So we change the plan, we’re going after the command center to disable their defences.” Knight said neutrally.

“You sound like you’ve done this before.”

“Ehh…as a matter of fact, I have. Wanna hear it?”

CJ scrunched up her face a moment in mock thought. “I’ll save that for another time. The stairs up are this way, c’mon.”

 

As they rounded a corridor, bullets whizzed past them from behind, forcing them into cover. A grenade throw from Knight scattered them temporarily, but more troops simply poured in.

“They’re behind us!” Knight yelled.

“Thanks captain obvious.” CJ replied “What’s the plan now?”

More Chinese sailors jogged down from the other direction.

“They were leading us into a fucking pincer attack…” Knight growled.

“Hey Knight! Don’t give up yet, I’ve got a pretty steamy idea!” CJ called, motioning with her gun. Knight immediately saw what she meant and as one, they fired into the ship’s piping in each other’s directions. Hot steam burst from one of the pipes, scalding the hapless sailors. The pipe Knight shot ran directly from the carrier’s toilets, and the sailors underneath were spewed with the foul contents. Both were distracted long enough for the intruders to slip past while filling them with lead.

“That’s some creative thinking,” Knight admitted “I like your style.”

CJ finished off a sailor and turned around.

“Thanks, I guess. Yours is pretty cool too, but don’t let that get to your head now, bounty hunter.”

 

Several minutes and a dozen bodies later, Knight and CJ reached the control room, only to find-

“Locked.” CJ said.

“You’re not throwing in the towel, are you?” Knight asked.

“Maybe. Maybe not.” she tilted her head. “I was hoping you could do something about this.”

She swore she could see the faintest grin on Knight’s face, and possibly a wink behind those cold, yellow shades.

“Of course I can, just stand back.”

 

The C4 Knight recovered from the armory did its job, blowing the door in on the sailors taking up positions behind it. Knight took point, sweeping through the Chinese like a broom. All except two fell- Admiral Shu and his Master Chief Petty Officer, a viciously quick man named Xu. Xu fired, nailing Knight in his gut. CJ aimed at Xu’s neck and pulled the trigger-  _ click _ . She was dry.

Cursing under her breath, she dumped the gun and crash-tackled Xu into a control panel, but Xu was barely faster and absorbed much of the blow, raining blows on CJ. She attempted to stab him with Knight’s switchblade, but in a brilliant move caught the stab and twisted her wrist, sending her flying with his other fist. Blood gushed from CJ’s lips as she caught herself stumbling; she knew now to keep her distance- another staggering blow like that and she’d be done for. Without hesitation, Xu advanced on CJ, gripping his tactically acquired switchblade and took several practice swings, evaluating her movements and speed. The massive punch had slowed her down and she was having trouble evading the blade.

With another feint, he tricked CJ into overextending and brought the switchblade on her head, only for her to block just in time. What CJ did next, she did lightning fast, something Xu realized far too late. Grabbing something from her own neck, she flipped it in her hand and shoved it into his crotch, his wails filling the cabin. CJ followed it up with a quick, fatal plunge of the dragon tooth (she had told everyone it was a replica Tyrannosaur tooth) into his neck.

 

CJ promptly turned around to help Knight, and was greeted by the welcome sight of him having shattered the Admiral’s kneecaps.

“Asshole… no doctor’s gonna save your legs now.” he growled.

“Shall I finish him off for you, bounty hunter?”

“Do what you want with him” he groaned, nursing his wounded shoulder. “Rufus, what’s your status?”

“ _ Boss, I’ve finished off the jets, but I’m running low on ammo, and I don’t know how much longer I can handle this fight. We need to get out of here soon. _ ”

Even with the likes of Rufus in the cockpit, Knight knew he couldn’t handle the dogfight for much longer.

“ _ Boss? _ ”

“Yea I’m here.” Knight assured.

“ _ Okay. Listen closely; I need you to help me take down the destroyers, and then deactivate the carrier’s own anti-air so I can pick you up. _ ”

“How are we...ngh... how are we gonna do that?”

“ _ The CIWS, boss. I need you to program the CIWS so it fires all its remaining ammo on the destroyers. _ ”

“Won’t their CIWS just counter it?”

“ _ Yeah, but there’s a good chance we’ll be able to sneak some shots through _ ”.

Knight hobbled over to the fire control panel, looked down once, and gave up.

“Oh of course, it’s in goddamn Mandarin. Cameron!”

CJ strode over and eyed the controls. “What does the man-baby need now?”

“You know how to read this better than me; find the button that says ‘blow everything up’.”

Examining the interface closely, CJ punched in the relevant targeting data, keyed the safety off and fired. The carrier launched a thunderous assault on the first destroyer; almost all of the carrier’s missiles were intercepted, except for one lucky shot that burrowed through to the destroyer’s ammo dump. The explosion cracked the destroyer’s hull immediately and it listed.

 

Just then, another explosion rocked the command center; cannon fire from the second destroyer. Knight and CJ ducked just in time to evade the deadly hail of glass.

“I will go down with this ship,” Admiral Shu grinned “and you will join me in hell, gweilo!”

The Americans simply strode past the crippled commander, CJ picking up the short-range radio that the Admiral used to order the attack on his own ship and hurled it out the window, just as Knight inexplicably collapsed onto a wall.

“Knight!” CJ called.

“Cameron, there’s one last thing I need you to do for me.”

“Can you walk?”

“Y-yea, just...just give me a second.”

Knight stopped to apply a tourniquet, but collapsed again before he could complete tying it. CJ’s eyes widened. Despite her hatred of Knight for having gotten them into this situation, seeing him like this nagged at her natural desire to save lives, no matter who they were or what it cost. Against herself, she made an improvised bandage for Knight, using her own belt and sterile cloth.

“Cameron…”

CJ looked into the man’s eyes, noticing he’d removed his shades. Behind them lay a pair of chocolatey brown eyes that squinted in the fluorescent light of the ship. Instead of the psychopathic stare she was expecting, his eyes were warm, pleading almost.

“Cameron...you’re a good person.”

CJ saw that Knight’s lips were starting to turn pale from blood-loss. The bullet must have destroyed several major blood vessels, she reckoned.

“What do I need to do, Knight?”

“Head to the wheel, and steer hard to port.”

CJ blanched. “You want me to ram them?”

Knight nodded. “Don’t forget to have Rufus pick you up afterwards. He’ll be there for you.”

“And you?”

The old bounty hunter cocked his head to the other side. “No. It’s better this way, he’ll understand. I was wrong, I’m the disposable one here.”

He paused, and then said “I’m going to see Susan and Felicia soon... ”

With that, Knight lost consciousness.

“Damn it!” CJ muttered, turning on her heel and making a beeline for the steering wheel, spinning it hard to port.

“What are you doing!” Admiral Shu cried “No! You’ll kill everyone!”

“You fuckers wanted a piece of me, you got it. Zai jian!”

 

V

 

The  _ Huanghe _ smashed into the second destroyer with apocalyptic force; the smaller ship was split in two and went under at a terrifying pace. The carrier itself was little better- a massive gash in its side meant it too was taking on water. CJ hurried back to Knight’s side, finding his earpiece had dislodged. Putting it on, she heard a familiar but slightly garbled voice.

“ _ Boss! If there’s a good time to evac, it would be now. Boss? _ ”

“Cameron here, I’m not sure your ‘boss’ is gonna make it…”

“ _ Wha-what! What did you do to him? _ ”

“He took a bullet from the Chinese, he’s losing a lot of blood in a hurry.”

“ _ But is he still alive? _ ”

“Yes.”

“ _ Then bring him back alive, you hear me! We leave no man behind! _ ”

“Why? Why should I bring him back?” CJ asked with complete curiosity. “He doesn’t want to be alive anymore.”

“ _ You don’t understand, Knight is everything to me. Without him, I… my life wouldn’t have meaning anymore.” _

CJ listened in silence, pursing her lips as she heaved Knight onto her.

“ _ I just, yea, he’s killed a lot of people, but he’s saved far more than he has killed, and honestly? He’s always been good to me, always looking out for me. I don’t know what I’d do without him.” _

“I see…” He was still an asshole in her eyes, but knowing he had selflessly put his own life on the line to bail her out… now that was something.

“I’m heading down to the flight deck now, be ready, Rufus!”

 

The Raven took off from the stricken Chinese fleet as the metal behemoths sank beneath the waves. Onboard, Knight was placed in a special cot which would allow CJ to operate on him. The already tricky operation was made even more challenging by her aching wrist, but she was eventually able to extract the bullet and suture the wound shut.

“He’ll need to get to a proper hospital soon so they can clean the wound properly, there’s not enough alcohol onboard.”

“Yeah I know, we agreed on not having too much in case one of us has to fly. Also, why are you not wearing pants?” Rufus asked. He had left the plane on autopilot so he could supervise CJ’s field operation.

“I used my belt for his makeshift bandage. I couldn’t wear those jeans without this belt so I had to leave it on the ship. Shame, it was a nice pair too.”

Rufus turned to appraise this strange woman. Several hours of mayhem had proven the seemingly innocuous herpetologist was as calm in a crisis as Knight was, complete with blood and gunpowder slicked down her shirt.

“What?” CJ asked.

Rufus knew he’d been caught looking and shifted his eyes.

“Well, uh…” He lowered his volume “Don’t mention this to Knight, but I think you look pretty.”

“Is that so?” she raised an eyebrow.

“Y-yeah.”

CJ mentally ran through a thousand snarky responses to being hit on but, slumping into the wall, she let out a simple “Mmm”.

Slightly dejected, Rufus popped open a soda pop and shuffled back to the cockpit.

“I’m not rejecting you, y’know.” CJ said, eyes still closed.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s just...it’s been a long day. My brother is dead because of these assholes, I can’t contact the one person I can count on to believe my story, and now I don’t know if you guys are even gonna release me.”

“I’m sorry, Ms Cameron. I’m very sorry we had to let things get this way, if only we’d known.”

“Don’t be, it wasn’t for you to know. I just hope that you and him can find a way out of this line of work.”

Rufus sighed, looking into the distance.

“I know this ain’t no way to live, but as I said, Knight is everything to me. I owe him my life, and wherever he goes, I’ll follow.”

“You can’t live your whole life like that, Rufus. You’re a smart person and more than capable of pulling your own weight, you don’t have to blindly follow him.”

“You’re right. He has always respected my decisions though, so if it ever comes to a time where we have to go our own ways, I think he’ll be fine with it.”

Several moments of silence passed, where all that could be heard was the muffled roar of the Black Raven’s twin engines.

“Wait, did you say you wanted to contact someone?”

 

_ A CIA black site, somewhere in the USA _

 

Hamish rocked back and forth in his plastic seat, crippled by the knowledge that he was unable to do anything to save his sister. Two hours had passed since he had been saved by the skin of his teeth, and now the highest echelons of the government were trying to find out what he knew. Inside the boardroom he sat next to, officials from the Departments of Homeland Security and Defence and even the Armed Forces’ Joint Chiefs of Staff convened over how to go about negotiating with the Chinese.

“If you don’t get this taken care of, we’re gonna have World War Three on our asses.” The Defence Secretary growled as he stormed out of the room with his associates, followed swiftly by the Homeland Security Secretary. Last of all emerged Agent Johnson and the American ambassador to China, Kirk Syme.

“What’s happened?” Hamish piped up.

“We attempted to approach the Chinese about the attack, but they seemed none too happy to entertain us.”

“I wouldn’t think so.”

“It’s not just that. They’ve lost contact with their carrier group off the South China Sea, and now we have to prove we weren’t responsible for it.”

 

Syme produced a manila envelope, gingerly revealing the contents.

“These were satellite photos from just an hour ago, someone took out an entire aircraft carrier and two of their ships.”

“Can’t imagine who that might be.” Hamish said candidly. “Even CJ wouldn’t be crazy enough to engineer something like that.”

“You don’t have to, we already know who did it.” Johnson said, tapping to the extreme right of the image.

“It’s a black jet...with forward facing wings. I’ve heard stories about it when I was in the Sandbox.”

“The Black Knight’s no fairy story, Hamish.” Johnson added. “He was an Army SF operator with Delta til’ he went rogue in ‘98. He and an ex-Nightstalker pilot acquired that prototype fighter from the Russians and they’ve been in every active frontline since, fighting for the highest bidder.”

“Okay, and what do I have to do with Boba Fett?”

“Earlier when CJ contacted you, we managed to triangulate the signal to the same coordinates as the fleet.”

“Shit…” Hamish breathed, clenching his fist “Did this Knight bastard just bomb my sister?”

“That’s what we’re trying to find out.”

“What do you mean find out! He pulled a goddamn airstrike on her and-”

 

Johnson picked up his phone, facing away from the enraged Hamish Cameron.

“I’m talking to you!!”

“Who is this?”

“ _ Is this special Agent Greg Johnson? _ ” Rufus called.

Johnson paused, knowing full well not to identify himself. This was, after all, a secret and secure frequency for CJ and Hamish to contact him.   
“Sorry, I think you have the wrong-”

“ _ Greg? _ ”

“CJ! What’s happened, where are you?”

“ _ Greg, I’m safe now, I think. I’m with this bounty hunter guy, calls himself ‘The Black Knight, but he pulled me out of the fire. I’ve told him to drop me off at the Island. _ ”

“Chipmunk!” Hamish yelled, snatching the sat-phone from Johnson.

“ _ Baby bear! _ ” CJ began to weep “ _ You’re alive! _ ”

“Thank Johnson for that.” he said, holding the slightly irate agent at bay. “I’m glad you made it, too.”

“ _ Yea. I’m in safe hands too, for the moment. We’ll be waiting on the Island for you. Are you hurt? _ ”

“Not really. You?”

“ _ Just a few scratches and bruises is all _ .”

“Okay. You stay put, ya hear? We’re comin to get you.”

“ _ Alright. Be careful out there _ .”

“Same to you, sis.”

 

V

 

_ Former Naval Station Magellan _

_ The next day, 7.03am _

 

Knight sat up in the cot, rubbing his bleary eyes.  _ Another day, another shitstorm _ , he muttered. The wound ached like hell, but the stitchwork was top notch, and he made a mental note to thank CJ. Ironically, the one person he put in the line of fire was the same one who saved him from it.  _ I might not get another chance like this _ , he thought.

 

Stepping outside the Raven, he noticed CJ and Rufus had already gotten a campfire going, spit-roasting a rather large catfish.

“So back home we catch these things by noodling.” Rufus explained “I’ve never done it but I’ve seen people from my old church go at it, they’d stick their arms down the cat’s hidey-hole and tempt it give them a mean ol bite.” He clasped his right arm with his left hand.

“Geez, that’s dangerous. What if it’s an alligator down there?”

“It’s a job risk, but we wouldn’t go hunting in places where gators have been seen laying around.”

“Good point.”

“Mornin, you two.” Knight interjected groggily.

Rufus scooted over, slightly closer to CJ, allowing Knight to take his place.

“Mmm, is that breakfast? I’m starvin.”

“Ah, boss, nice of you to join us. We’d already cooked another one for you.”

Knight reached for the remaining cooked fish and offered a thanks to no one in particular.

“Also, Cameron. Thanks for uh...what you did back there.”

“I admit I did it more for him than you,” CJ jerked her chin at Rufus “but I guess you’re not that bad a person either. You’re lucky to have someone like him who loves you unconditionally.”

Silence passed between them as the hunters tucked into their meal, while CJ leaned forward to check on the remaining fish. Satisfied that it was cooked enough, she took it off the fire.

“What about you, CJ?” Rufus said.

“Moi? Someone who loves me unconditionally? Ehhh...I think I’m good, you’ll see why in a moment.”

“What do you mean?”

In response, CJ simply removed something from her haversack- it had remained surprisingly untouched throughout the chaos of the night. She blew into it, but no sound could be heard.

“This is an ultrasonic whistle, she’ll be here soon.”

“She…?”

 

Seemingly out of nowhere, a large black shape swooped down from the heavens and landed perfectly at CJ’s side with a thud.

“HOLY SHIT!” Rufus and Knight screamed as the beast’s reptilian form took shape, growling at them with its massive jaws bared.

“It’s okay, Lucky.” CJ patted her on the head, scritching behind her ears. “They’re friends, for now. You can chill, guys.”

Knight scrambled to find his feet, hiding behind the larger Rufus who stood rooted to the spot with his mouth agape.

“I-is that what I think it is?”

“Yep. It’s a dragon.”

Rufus slapped himself twice, making sure all this wasn’t some delirious, fatigue-induced dream. No, before him stood a creature of myth, brought to life by science. It had all the features a dragon he imagined a dragon should have- scaly skin, jaws full of razor-sharp teeth, ‘horns’ emerging out the sides of its head (CJ would later explain they were ears), and those dreadful bat-like wings.

“D-does it breathe fire?” A petrified Knight asked.

In response, Lucky bared her mouth open, causing Knight and Rufus to dodge to either side, much to CJ’s humor.

“Hahaha no, Lucky can’t breathe fire, all these genetically-engineered dragons can’t.” she said. Ironically, she found herself parroting the same half-truth the Chinese told her at the zoo a year back, there were  _ no _ fire-breathing dragons. She ended up having to fight two dragons that did.”

“Wait, did you say... _ dragons _ ? As in the plural form?”

“Yes, yes I did. There’s four other dragons on this island, also genetically engineered by the Chinese. This is a Prince-size dragon, or I should call this one a princess” She said, cuddling Lucky’s head. “There’s another one of her size, two King-size dragons that are the size of whales, and an Emperor dragon that’s uh...she’s a little bigger than a 737.”

Lucky began to calm down and sat herself by CJ, but still eyed the two would-be intruders.

“The others are kinda placid, but Lucky here is like a little lapdog, she loves the affection, plus she’s really active.”

“C-can I pet her?” Rufus asked.

CJ looked at her, evaluating her body language. She was calm enough, convinced that neither of these humans would pose a huge threat to her master. Not that it mattered much, she’d bite off their arms before they could get a chance to lay a finger on her.

“She says yes.”

Gingerly, Rufus stepped closer, still intimidated by the thought that any moment, he would be gobbled up. It took him another half minute for him to get within petting range and ever so gently, rubbed her head.

“Man this is insane. She’s got the same texture as an ol’ gator’s belly.”

“That’s a good observation; some of these dragons had to be artificially inseminated and carried to term by saltwater crocs.” She said slightly wistfully. She had painful flashbacks about the zoo’s monstrous policy of imprisoning crocodiles and forcing them to carry the dragon babies, a process that would eventually kill the mother.

“But you don’t have to worry about them reproducing and making more baby dragons, they’re bred to be sterile. They’re also asexual, kinda like me.”

“Uhhh you’re what?” Knight raised his eyebrow.

Rufus looked up, smiling. “I can answer that, boss. She means she and the dragon don’t have mating instincts. However, some female lizards can reproduce without a mate- it’s called asexual parthenogenesis.”

“Impressive.” CJ said. “If it weren’t for the circumstances, I’d gladly take you on as an intern.”

“Well,” Knight scratched his head, still wary of the giant reptile before him “You learn something new everyday, huh?”

 

The rest of the day was spent getting to know all about dragon biology, the zoo, and China’s motivations for pursuing such a monumental effort. Knight eventually got over his fear of Lucky, and both the mercenaries got free rides from her. While Rufus enjoyed every second of it, Knight simply puked on the ground after he landed.

“And I thought I’d gotten used to Rufus’ flying. Never again.” he swore.

At nearly five o’clock in the afternoon, CJ received a transmission from Johnson, letting her know he was on the way with protection from a Marine Corps element so the dragons could take cover. The element arrived ten minutes later, comprising of 3 MV-22 tiltrotors with a pair of F-35 jets as top cover. A platoon of Marines fanned themselves out around Hamish, Johnson and Syme as they made the rendezvous, aiming their rifles squarely at Knight and Rufus. Hamish, for his part, could not be any less bothered as he embraced CJ.

“Y’know, maybe I’ll stay here with you for a while, I think some sibling bonding is in order.”

“Well, since I was intending to come here anyway, I think I’ll hang around for a week or so. I deserve the time off with Lucky anyway.”

“Do you have all the supplies we need?”

“Only for a few days, but if you could drop off Rufus here in Darwin, he could fetch me my plane and additional supplies. He’s a pilot, after all.”

 

Meanwhile, Johnson and Syme turned their attention to Knight, who had turned his attention away from the fanfare.

“Never thought I’d see you in the flesh.” Johnson said. “You’re a legend in the intelligence community.”

Knight refused to return his attention, blankly staring out into the ocean.

“I’m sorry about what happened to your wife and child all those years ago, I truly am. I can’t imagine how it feels to lose my family, but if it were up to me, I wouldn’t have allowed that to happen.”

Still silence.

“I don’t think there’s anything we can do right by you anymore, but at least accept some form of gratitude from us for rescuing CJ. We can credit $5 million to-”

“Not to my account, you’re not.” Knight said.

“CJ told me you wanted the bounty.”

“I never told her that. I’ve traded far too many bullets with Uncle Sam to accept any niceties. I only rescued her because she’s a good person and doesn’t deserve to be executed.”

Johnson looked to Syme, who nodded, and then turned back to Knight.

“Understood.”

“But I want mine and Rufus’ criminal records expunged.”

“Done.”

“Thank you.”

  
Knight would continue to stay on the Island overnight until Rufus returned with CJ’s plane the next day, while Johnson had his debrief with CJ, satisfied that he and Syme could get China off their backs. Inevitably, it came to the time where the two bounty hunters flew off on their next adventure, still very much in awe of the dragons and the dragon whisperer. The Black Raven vanished across the horizon, and CJ was left alone with Hamish and the dragons, contemplating the truly bizarre way everything worked out in the end.


End file.
